


The Newspaper

by Tea_For_One_Please



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I will protect Seb Matthew-Smith with my life, M/M, One Shot, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:09:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22414534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: It’s been a week since Carlos saw Seb with that damn newspaper, and since then, Carlos has noticed that he’s been acting, well, not exactly his usual self.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 10
Kudos: 78





	The Newspaper

“Hey, you ready to go?” Carlos practically bounces to a stop in front of Seb’s locker, and a full three-and-a-half seconds pass before Seb even seems to notice that he’s there. Not that Carlos is counting.

“Oh, yeah, totally. One sec.”

It’s been a week since Carlos saw Seb with that damn newspaper, and since then, Carlos has noticed that he’s been acting, well, not exactly his usual self. Seb’s rarely the loudest person in a room, but is consistently a quietly jovial presence among the theatre kids, with an infectious smile which – Carlos slams on the brakes of this particular train of thought for now, as he often finds that once it reaches full speed, he becomes a lot less productive.

This last week, though, has left Carlos feeling a little concerned. He’s been withdrawn, and almost melancholy. Carlos suspects that the others have started to notice as well, although none of them would say anything. It’s strange, he’s observed, how much Seb’s funk has thrown their group dynamic, considering how often his positive energy goes overlooked by people.

He’s doing it again, he realises, as they fall in step alongside each other. He slips a hesitant hand into Seb’s as they walk, and breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn’t pull away. Whatever it is that’s going on between them (they’ve not really had time to discuss it yet), it’s apparently unaffected by Seb’s odd mood.

“You’re quiet today,” Seb observes, squeezing his hand. “Everything okay?”

“I’m just thinking,” Carlos says hastily, before adding, “Besides, pot and kettle, much?” Seb turns his head to look quizzically at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m worried about you,” Carlos says, tugging on Seb’s hand to bring him to a stop. “You’ve been acting weird this week.” When Seb says nothing, Carlos prods a little further. “Something to do with that newspaper you wouldn’t let me read.”

“Oh, that?” Seb says dismissively. “I’m over that.”

“Good,” Carlos says, relieved. “Can you tell me what’s up then?”

Seb hesitates. “It’s nothing really,” he says evasively. “Just family drama, I guess.” He doesn’t elaborate, and Carlos is not convinced he’s being completely truthful, but decides not to press the matter.

It might have been two weeks since the show closed, but most of the theatre kids – Carlos and Seb included – have found that they don’t really have anything else to do with their lunch breaks than hang out with each other. It’s for this reason that the two of them are now walking hand-in-hand into the drama room to eat, where Big Red, Ashlyn, Nini and Kourtney are already in animated discussion.

“And then,” Nini is saying, “Mr Cortez was like, ‘If you don’t want to be in here, you’re welcome to leave,’ and literally ten people just got up and left the class.”

“No way,” Big Red says, the surprise in his voice making it squeak on the final word.

“Yuh-huh!”

“It’s true,” Carlos cuts in, letting go of Seb’s hand and joining the circle. “Some serious theatrics for a math class.”

“You got all this junior year drama to come, Sebby,” Kourtney says, patting his leg affectionately. Seb gives a hollow laugh as he pulls his lunch from his backpack. Carlos is itching to pull him aside and throttle him until he tells him honestly what’s bothering him, but at this point he’s learned that Seb mostly likes to do things because he wants to do them, rather than because he’s being told to. It’s a rarely-observed stubbornness which sits beneath the surface, and a quality that Carlos finds incredibly endearing. Right now, though, it’s driving him to distraction.

Ricky and Gina arrive a few minutes later, and Gina tells them that EJ is out sick. Despite his absence, they eat, chat, and play games to pass the time. A little while later, they’re doing musical-themed charades. Ricky’s up, and he scans his card, twitches an eyebrow and points at Seb.

“Uh…”

“Seb?” a few voices ask.

“Um, Sebastian, from _The Little Mermaid_?” Gina suggests, and Ricky shakes his head and bites his lip, thinking. He cocks up his head and struts in front of the group, pointing at Seb, who is looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“Oh! Oh, it’s Sharpay!” Ashlyn says suddenly.

“Yes!” Ricky exclaims, tossing the card away and high-fiving Ashlyn as she gets up to take his place.

“Excuse me,” Seb says quietly, before standing up and walking hurriedly out, stooping to retrieve his backpack as he passes it. Their eyes follow him, full of concern.

“Did I do something?” Ricky asks anxiously. “I didn’t mean to upset him – ”

“I’m not sure,” Carlos says.

“I’ll go and see if he’s okay,” Nini says, but Carlos shakes his head.

“No, I’ll go. You guys keep playing, he won’t like it if he comes back and you’re all looking at him.” The others watch him leave, and he hears Ashlyn tentatively start the game up again as he turns the corner. He can’t see Seb, and it’s quite a long corridor, so he can’t have gone too far. He checks a couple of empty classrooms before arriving at the boys’ bathroom. He pushes the door open, and can quite clearly hear the sound of someone crying who’s trying not to. “Seb?” The sound stops immediately. “Seb, it’s me.” He hears him blowing his nose, then the toilet flushes and Seb emerges, his eyes watery and puffy. Carlos leans against the sink and looks intently at him. “Honey, what’s going on?” He only calls him that in times of stress, or when he feels Seb needs to hear it, and he thinks now is one of those times. Sure enough, he gives a weak smile.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and Carlos shakes his head.

“Don’t be, just tell me what’s bothering you.” Instead, Seb reaches into his backpack and pulls out the newspaper. It’s the _Salt Lake Almanac_ , which gives information about things to do in the local area. Predictably, its readership is not enormous, so he’s surprised to see Seb with it.

“Page six,” he says with a sniff. Carlos flicks through and finds a review of their show.

“ _High school’s musical High School Musical_ ,” he reads aloud, but Seb shakes his head, so he scans the page silently. _Showcase of talent…emotional performances…impressive dance sequences…_ He feels a small burst of pride at the last one, which vanishes as he reads the next passage.

 _The only true disappointment_ , the article reads, _was the bizarre directional decision to cast a boy as a gender-bent Sharpay Evans. This choice significantly jarred the audience’s suspension of disbelief and connection to the source material, and led to an embarrassingly inordinate performance of an otherwise iconic character._

Carlos reads through it several times, red-hot anger burning just behind his eyes, unable to believe what he’s seeing. Seb’s looking away from him, and seems to be holding back tears.

“Where did you get this?” Carlos demands, holding up the almanac between thumb and forefinger, as if he’s just pulled it from a sewer.

“My mom gets it for market stall listings,” Seb mutters, still avoiding eye contact. “You want to know the worst part?” There’s a momentary pause before he continues. “He’s right. The reviewer. It was such a stupid idea. I just… I really felt I was doing the right thing.” His usually soft voice was hard and bitter. “Maybe for the spring show I’d be better just sitting in the pit and playing the piano.”

“Seb, look at me,” Carlos says, firmly but being sure to keep his voice gentle. He does, and Carlos turns back to the page of the review. Holding it where Seb can see it, he tears out the page, folds it in half, and starts ripping it to shreds. “That reviewer was an idiot.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s a professional.”

“Hush,” Carlos says. “I’m going to tell you something now which I probably shouldn’t.” Seb looks curiously at him. “I know this is going to sound biased, but remember that when you auditioned, I didn’t really know you, so I had no bias at all.”

“Go on.”

“Besides you, Miss Jenn and I watched nearly a dozen people audition for Sharpay.” Carlos takes both of Seb’s hands in his own and looks him seriously in the eyes. “They could all sing, and most of them even looked the part, but we both agreed not one of them had even half the energy, the enthusiasm and the attitude that you did.” Seb smiles modestly down at their interlocked fingers. “You were truly incredible up there. You hear me?”

“I hear you.”

“You saw the audience,” Carlos goes on. “I watched you do Status Quo and Bop to the Top from the wings every night, and you got a standing ovation from at least one of those songs from every audience. They _loved_ you, Seb.” Seb smiles again as he looks at Carlos, looking considerably more like his usual self.

“And what about you?” he asks, a trace of mischief back in his voice which Carlos hasn’t heard in over a week. In answer, he leans forward, closes the distance between them and kisses him, closing his eyes as he feels his lips meet Seb’s. As they break apart, Carlos chuckles and squeezes Seb’s hands.

“Does that answer your question?”

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: the terrible sentiments expressed in the newspaper review in no way reflect the author's opinion of Seb's iconic performance as Sharpay. Please don't come for me.
> 
> Although please do leave a comment if you enjoyed this, or else hit me up on Tumblr (@tea-for-one-please), I love to hear your thoughts!


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